North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[edforest55@hotmail.com]

Hi Margie, Hi Tom
I have a very dry root cellar and do enclose my potted rootstocks in 
plastic and don't have to water them all winter. This is important to 
me as it is very difficult to check and water them. I pack the roots 
in sawdust in a 5 gallon bucket and tie a white plastic garbage bag 
over the whole pot, stems and all. 
The only losses I've had were one year when I had no water and had to 
put snow in the pots. It left them too moist and rot got the lower 
roots. I now make sure that they are well drained.
In that dry root cellar I have lost upper portions of plants to the 
dry air and not the roots. Wrapping the entire bucket solves that 
problem. 
In a root cellar as dry as mine the roots in potted plants can also be 
lost if not watered or enclosed in plastic.
Kevin B 
z 3 and 5




--- In nafex@y..., "Margie Luffman" <luffmanm@E...> wrote:
> Hello Tom. I wouldn't bother with plastic bags. We store a lot of 
potted material in cold storage for the winter and have never had any 
losses. The key is to check regularly and provide water as required.
> 
> Margie
> 
> Margie Luffman
> Curator, Canadian Clonal Genebank Program
> Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada
> Greenhouse and Processing Crops Research Centre
> 2585 County Road 20
> Harrow, Ontario
> N0R 1G0
> 
> Phone: 519-738-2251 ext. 474
> Fax:      519-738-2929
> E-mail:luffmanm@e...
> 
> 
> >>> tolenio@s... 11/20/01 09:23am >>>
> Hi,
> 
> Most of my potted seedlings are being stored outside for the
> winter, however I am putting 3 special seedlings into a cold
> room for the winter.  My question is in regards to watering
> the pots in the cold room.
> 
> My plan is to keep the pots in a cold room that has an
> average winter temperature of 45F.  The cold room is all
> concrete (floor, walls, ceiling) and is very dry.  I had
> planned to add 1 cup of water to each pot once a month
> during the winter to keep them damp.
> 
> My question is...  Should I put the pots into plastic bags
> to help conserve moisture?  If plastic bags are used, should
> the bags be open, closed tightly, or loosely closed?
> 
> Thanks for any suggestions.
> 
> Later,
> Tom
> --
> Thomas Olenio
> Ontario, Canada
> Hardiness Zone 6a
> 
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]


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